Black Coffee by Tracy Price-Thompson

Author:Tracy Price-Thompson [Price-Thompson, Tracy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-58836-119-6
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2011-10-19T00:00:00+00:00

Rom offered to drive me back to Tenea’s, and as tired as I knew he was, I accepted the offer. He dressed quickly and grabbed a thick heavy sweater, and we left the hotel room and ventured back out into the windy night. I banged on Tenea’s door again, this time to wake her up.

“Hey.”

She stood in the doorway fully clothed, with a blanket around her shoulders. I could tell she had cried herself to sleep.

I said, “Your mother needs to go to the emergency room, Tenea. Where is she?”

She sniffed. “At Miss Ernestine’s.”

There was no doubt in my mind that Ladelle was next door sending my fifty spot up in a cloud of smoke. Rom stretched out on the sofa to catch a quick nap, and Tenea and I went over to the next apartment.

Tenea tapped on the door lightly at first and, when no one answered, much harder. Eternal moments sailed by, then someone finally yelled, “Who the hell is it?”

“It’s me, Miss Ernestine. It’s Tenea. Is my mother in there?”

To my surprise, Ladelle opened the door. She was no bigger than a hastily drawn stick figure. A cigarette dangled from her lips and hell shot from her eyes. Her sparse hair stood up wildly on her oval head, and she looked pissed.

“What are you doing here, Sanderella? I thought you left a long time ago!” She was clearly not happy to see me. I’d interrupted her while she was trying to get her high on.

“Ladelle,” I began slowly, “you have to see a doctor. You can’t survive like this. You need medical attention.”

My sister put her hand on her imagination and gave me a dirty look. “Don’t tell me what the fuck I need, Sandie! I’ll kick your little ass all the way back to Brooklyn!”

“Yeah,” I said sadly, “maybe last month you might have, but I doubt if you could tonight.” I held my arms out to her and prayed she would just step into them. “Come on, Ladelle. Just come outside and talk to me.”

“No, goddammit! Now mind your fucking business!” She slammed the door in my face.

“You are my fucking business!” I screamed from the bottom of my heart as I banged futilely on the unyielding metal.

Tenea sprang into action. “Come on, Aunt Sandie. We’ll go around and knock on the windows!”

We ran around to a side window that was at ground level. The night was dark, and we could just barely see through the blinds and into the dim bedroom inside. “Ma! Ma! Come outside, dammit!” Tenea screamed over and over as she pounded on the glass. The shadowy occupants ignored us. The air was crisp and chilly. I huddled down in my jacket against the biting wind.

“Forget this!” Tenea pushed upward on the window. It gave a little, then stuck fast. She tried again. Pushed harder. This time it slid up all the way. Before I knew it, girlfriend had pulled the Venetian blinds clear down from their mounts and hoisted herself up and through the open window.

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